Enlarging easel



. Sept. 23, 1947.

F. B. JENSEN ENLARGING EAsEL Filed April 6, l945 2 Sheets-Sheet l Sept.23, 1947. F. B. JENSEN 2,427,860

ENLARGING EASEL Filed April 6, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5505mm 5. cE/vsE/VPatented Sept. 23, 1947 smres' PATENT OFFICE;

ENLARGING EASED EredericklB: Jensen, Sacrament/oi. Caliii,

Application April 6, 1945, Serial No. 586,889

4; Claims.

This invention relates to enlarging easelsfor photographic work, andmore particularly to an easel'adaptedfor making one or more exposures ona single sheet of photographic paper.

A main object of'this-invention is to provide an improved enlargingeasel of simple construction adapted to facilitate the printing of asingle exposure or of a plurality of exposures on a single sheet ofprinting paper, and wherein handling of the printing paper is minimizedduring the various stages ofprocessing.

Further objects and; advantagesof' the invention will appear from thefollowing description and claims, and from the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of anenlarging easel according to this inventionwith a portion of" the top cover broken away to show the interiorstructure.

Figure2'is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2.2 of, Figure 1,.

Figure 3 is a front elevational; view of the enlarging easel of Figure lwith the cover inraised position Figure 4 is a cross-sectionalview takenon, line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of: the paper holder employedinthe easelof. Figure Figure 6 is a. bottom view of one of. a. plurality of,printing masks. employed with, the enlarging easel of Figure 1:.

Referring to the drawings, I. designatesa shallow rectangular traymember forming the bottom portion ofthe easel. Saidtray member comprisesa rectangular base 2 provided with side walls 3, '3 and arear-walll l.Hinged to rear wall 4 is a rectangular top cover 5 adapted to extendfrom side to side of tray member I, and terminating at a front edgespaced a short distance inwardly from the front edge of base 2. A rearrib 6 is. secured to the rear edge of rear wall 4 which acts as a stopmeans to limit the rotation of. cover 5 around it hinges and. tosupport, said Cover at times in a raised P sition substantiallyperpendicular to tray I, as shown in Figure 3.

Cover 5 is formed with an. aperture adapted to receive one of aplurality of rectangular printing masks I in a position perpendicular tothe front edge of the cover. The bottom edges of the aperture arerabbeted to receive metal supporting strips 8 which are secured to saidedges and extend inwardly with respect to the aperture. The edge of eachmask 1 are also rabbeted to cooperate with the inwardly extending edgesof strips 8 for supporting the mask with its bottom surfacesubstantially flushwith the bottom surface of cover 5; As shownin thedrawings, theaperture for each mask 1 is normally arranged so that themask is positioned perpendicular to-the front edgeoi" thecover. However,a removable section- Si is provided: in the cover, as shown in Figure 3;whichmay be taken: out, and'replaced at the-top portion ofthe aperture,asviewed in Figure 3, forconverting theapertur-e for use inmaking-horizontal single-prints of the sizeof. the

aperture.

Slidably mounted within traylis a rectangula-r paper holder Hicomprising a rigid boardprovided with a resilient leaf spring clipmemberll appropriately mounted adjacent the rear edge of holderill on arib member I 2' secured at said rearedge. A tab member I3 is securedadjacent the front edge of; holder Ill. Said holder I0 is adapted to beslidably positioned within tray I with its rear edge abutting rear wall4 and with tab member Hiprotruding beyond the front edge of cover 5 sothat paper holder Ill may be slid' laterally i-n tray l by manualactuation of tab mem-' ber I37. A standard sheetof printing paper maybeclamped to holder ill by engaging one edge thereof under clip member H.A guide strip 25 at one lateral edge of holder I0 is provided forproperly positioning the paper.

Side wall 3 terminates about midway between the front and; rear edgesvof tray I. A series of stop members 14, I5 and I6 are pivotally securedadjacent, the side edges of base 2 and are normaliy. in alignment withwall 3. A resilient strip ll of metal or other suitable material issecured othe id dge of' ase 2' and a d stop m m ers are adapted tonormally contact said strip at their longitudinal" surfaces, as shown inFigure 1, Each stop member may be rotated to an inwardly projectingposition normal to strip ll, said strip cooperating with the endsurfaces. of said; stop members to resiliently secure them in projectingposition when thus rotated. The stop members are of different len thsandare adapted to cooperate with paper holder I0, to act as a. laterallimiting means for properly positioning paper holder ['0' for printingthrough masks having different sizes or locations of mask apertures tosecure the most economical utilization of a standard sheet of printingpaper with a given mask.

In operation, a standard sheet of printing paper is mounted on holderHi, a desired mask is positioned in the aperture of cover 5, and anappropriate stop member l4, 15 or IE is rotated to inwardly projectingposition. Holder I0 is "wall 3 and another print is made.

moved into abutment with said stop member and the printing operation isperformed. Holder I is then moved into abutment with side The two printswill be separated by an appropriate blank margin.

For the mask shown at I in the drawings the stop members need not beemployed inasmuch as aperture IS in said mask is so positioned that afirst exposure may be made with the left edge of holder [0 in abutmentwith side wall 3 and a second exposure may be made with the right edgeof holder ID in abutment with side wall 3'. The two prints thus madewill be separated by the desired blank margin.

While a specific embodiment of an enlarging easel has been disclosed inthe foregoing description, it will be understood that variousmodifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations beplaced on the invention other than as defined by the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An easel for photographic printing comprising a shallow horizontaltrough member, a cover member hinged to said trough member at a rearwall thereof, an aperture in said cover member, said aperture beingformed and arranged to receive and support a printing mask therein, ahorizontal paper holder slidably positioned within said trough member,and a plurality of stop arms of different lengths p-ivotally connectedto said trough member at a side portion thereof and adapted to berotated to an inwardly projecting position in said trough member in theplane of said paper holder to position said paper holder for printingsuccessive exposures through a mask onto a sheet of printing paper heldon said paper holder responsive to successive sliding movements of saidpaper holder.

2. An easel for photographic printing com" prising a shallow horizontaltrough member, a cover member hinged to said trough member at a rearwall thereof, an aperture in said cover member, said aperture beingformed and arranged to receive and support a printing mask therein, ahorizontal paper holder slidably positioned within said trough member,and a plurality of stop arms of different lengths pivotally connected tosaid trough member at a side portion thereof and adapted to be rotatedto an inwardly projecting position in said trough member in the plane ofsaid paper holder to position said paper holder for printing successiveexposures through a mask onto a sheet of printing paper held on saidpaper holder responsive to successive sliding movements of said paperholder, and a spring clip member mounted on said paper holder adjacentone edge thereof adapted to resiliently secure said sheet of printingpaper to said paper holder.

3. An easel for photographic printing comprising a shallow, generallyrectangular, horizontal trough member, a cover member for said troughmember hinged to said trough member at a rear wall thereof and adaptedto extend over said trough member, the front edge of said cover memberbeing positioned a short distance inwardly of the front edge of saidtrough memher, an aperture in said cover member, said aperture beingformed and arranged to receive and support a printing mask therein, ahorizontal paper holder slidably positioned within said trough memberfor lateral movement therein and formed with a rear edge adapted toslidably abut; the rear wall of said trough member and having a frontportion extending forwardly beyond the front edge of said cover member,and a plurality of stop arms of different lengths pivotally connected tosaid trough member at a side portion thereof, each of said stop armsbeing adapted to be rotated to an inwardly projecting position in saidtrough member in the plane of said paper holder to successively positionsaid paper holder responsive to lateral movement thereof for printingsuccessive exposures through a mask supported in said aperture onto asheet of printing paper held on said paper holder.

4. An easel for photographic printing comprising a shallow generallyrectangular horizontal trough member, a cover member for said troughmember hinged to said trough member at a rear wall thereof and adaptedto extend over said trough member, the front edge of said cover memberbeing positioned a short distance inwardly of the front edge of saidtrough member, an aperture in said cover member, said aperture beingformed and arranged to receive and support a printing mask therein, ahorizontal paper holder slidably positioned within said trough memberfor lateral movement therein and formed with a rear edge adapted toslidably abut the rear wall of said trough member and having a frontportion extending forwardly beyond the front edge of said cover member,a plurality of stop arms of different lengths pivotally connected tosaid trough member at a side portion thereof, each of said stop armsbeing adapted to be rotated to an inwardly projecting position in saidtrough member in the plane of said paper holder to successively positionsaid paper holder responsive to lateral movements thereof for printingsuccessive exposures through a mask supported in said aperture onto asheet of printing paper held on said paper holder, and spring meansprovided for holding said stop arms in inwardly projecting position.

FREDERICK B. JENSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,168,503 Williamson Aug. 8, 19392,167,298 Hardy July 25, 1939 1,900,651 Koenig et a1. Mar. '7, 19332,108,295. Prucha Feb. 15, 1938 2,213,652 Lawrence Sept. 3, 1940

